Fox has been busy in recent years bringing back some of its biggest shows in The X-Files, 24 and Prison Break to varying degrees of success, but when it comes to a Buffy revival, it seems there is only one thing in the way.

"It's something we talk about frequently, and Joss Whedon is really one of the greatest creators we ever worked with," Fox TV group chair Gary Newman explained at the INTV Conference (via Variety). "When Joss decides it's time, we'll do it. And until Joss decides it's time, it won't happen."

Newman added that Buffy is "probably the most ripe show we have for bringing back", but that he "wouldn't get out of the building alive" if he actually confirmed it.

However, if we have to wait for Whedon to decide when it's time to resurrect Buffy, we could be waiting a while as last year he revealed why he wouldn't bring the show back. "You bring something back, and even if it's exactly as good as it was, the experience can't be," he noted.

"Luckily most of my actors still look wonderful, but I'm not worried about them being creaky. I'm more worried about me being creaky as a storyteller. You don't want that feeling that you should have left before the encore. I don't rule it out, but I fear that."

"I'm sure the fans are incredibly disappointed to hear that answer, but I think they'd be more disappointed if we created something and it didn't live up to the expectation, because the expectation is so incredibly high," she added.